Coronavirus: Victorian ‘border exiles’ weeks away from home

Thousands of Victorians remain stranded in NSW — and will potentially not be permitted to return home for weeks — as authorities process 2800 exemption appli­cations.

Victorian COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar in Melbourne on Tuesday. Picture: David Crosling

Thousands of Victorians remain stranded in NSW — and will potentially not be permitted to return home for weeks — as authorities process 2800 appli­cations for exemptions to the border closure between the states.

Scott Morrison personally intervened, signalling the federal government could provide assistance to Victorians stranded after the New Year’s Day border closure, telling 2GB and 3AW on Tuesday he had spoken directly to Premier Daniel Andrews about developing a “better pathway” for returnees. “The wastewater testing had no positive results for COVID outside the Greater Sydney metropolitan region and other hotspot areas like Wollongong.,” the Prime Minister said.

“It’s the same situation as rural and regional Victoria and Melbourne … so there is an opportunity to work through those issues, and we will provide what support we can for a better pathway home for Victorians.”

Figures revealed by Victorian authorities show they are sorting through 2798 exemption appli­cations — with only 57 granted.

More than 60,000 Victorians returned to the state after its government announced the border would close on January 1.

There are now 248 people in mandatory hotel quarantine and another 1612 quarantining at home, despite NSW recording only four new cases on Tuesday — all in the Sydney region.

The tight border closure has left many families split and unable to return. On Tuesday, former Labor leader Bill Shorten said he would be “hitting the phones” after a mother of an 11-year-old child with a disability asked for his help to get them home.

“A whole lot of Victorians on holiday were caught off guard.,” Mr Shorten, Labor’s government services spokesman, told Today.

“We need now the administrative follow-up to make sure that people aren’t stranded in some ­really tough circumstances, like the lady I’m talking about.”

Separately, the family of the partner of Kelly Foster, the NSW police officer who died trying to rescue a student from a Blue Mountains whirlpool, say they are unable to come to NSW because of the hard border closure.

“My brother is a resident … there in the Blue Mountains. And most of my family, we’re all in Victoria, in country areas of Victoria,” the man’s sister, Nicole Potter, told ABC Melbourne. “I need to drive Mum, you know … and because we aren’t essential workers then we can’t get back.”

Victorian COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar said ­holiday-makers returning to Victoria from Queensland should not make lengthy stopovers on their journey home.

“We‘re not going to encourage people to dwell overnight and make the kind of journey you’d want to make,” he said. “I appreciate no one wants to drive in a straight shot across NSW (and) clearly we’ll balance their safety.”

Mr Weimar acknowledged the distance, saying he had once driven from Cameron Corner in Queensland to Mildura in Victoria in a day, which is an 8½ journey. Safe driving guidelines recommend a stop for 15 minutes every two hours.

Mr Weimar said Victorian authorities has been in contact with 1100 of the 2800 exemption applicants and were waiting on information from 630 others.

Elsewhere, the ACT extended its hotspot declaration for Sydney and parts of NSW for another week — to at least January 13.

Authorities do not know how many Victorians are stranded in NSW, a spokeswoman said.